Houston Fire Department

HFD Units and Terms

Engine Companies- Staffed with 4 members who are cross trained as firefighters and EMTs. A Fire Engine functions as a BLS unit without transport capabilities. Some Engines are also staffed with paramedics. When responding to a fire, the primary purpose of an engine is to locate and extinguish the fire.

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Ladder Trucks – Staffed with 4 members who are cross trained as firefighters and EMTs. A Ladder Truck functions as a BLS unit without transport capabilities. When responding to a fire, the primary purpose of a ladder is search and rescue and ventilation.

5

Tower Trucks - Staffed with 4 members who are cross trained as firefighters and EMTs. A Tower Truck functions as a BLS unit without transport capabilities. When responding to a fire, the primary purpose of a tower is the same as a ladder, but the tower has a bucket at the end of the ladder.

11

Booster Trucks - The primary purpose of a Booster is to put out small fires (dumpster, trash) and/or respond to grass fires and/or used as directed by the district chief at a fire scene.

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District Chiefs - District Chiefs respond to all incidents within their district, be it fire or other incident / non-fire related (accidents, firefighter injuries, at citizen's request, etc.)

3

Safety Officers – responsible for safe operations on the fireground and insures injuries are reported and documented.

2

Shift Commander Suburban - Deputy Chief responsible for the North and South response areas and personnel.

Medic Units (ALS)- An ambulance staffed with 2 Paramedics operating in the capacity of an advanced life support prehospital care provider. Transport Unit

12

Squad Unit - A Squad is an EMS unit that consists of two paramedics, usually in a suburban or other vehicle that responds to an incident to administer advanced medical care. If they are not needed to actually transport the patient, once a BLS unit has arrived, the BLS unit can take the patient to the hospital.

10

EMS Supervisors

2

Hazmat Response Units - The primary purpose of a Hazmat unit is to define chemicals, what type of incident they are dealing with and stop the flow of the substance .

1

Hazmat Foam Engine

9

ARFF Crash Trucks - These units respond only to airport emergencies.

4

ARFF Trucks - These units respond only to airport emergencies.

2

ARFF Medical Service Units

2

ARFF Rapid Intervention Units

1

ARFF Triage Vehicle

2

ARFF Triage Trailers

2

Special Operations Rescue Trailer

1

Special Operations Rescue Triage Trailer

2

Special Operations Rescue Incident Vehicle

3

Technical Rescue Trucks - The primary purpose of the Rescue unit is to excavate and rescue.

8

Evacuation Boats - Placed into service during times of high-water, primarily used when there are a large number of people trapped in high waters.

5

Rescue Boats - The primary function of the rescue boat is to be used to effect rescue in high water situations, removal of a victim and/or stranded individual.

4

Fast Water Rescue Craft - Jet Bikes arrived 2007.

4

Cascade Trucks - These units see that all air bottles are in their quadrant are kept full. They also respond to the request of district chiefs at working fires to fill air bottles.

1

Rehab Truck - This special piece of equipment is designed to re-hydrate firefighters and can be called for use by captains and district chiefs to an incident.

1

Command Van

1

Mobile Ventilation Unit – This special piece of equipment is used to disperse large volumes of smoke within a designated area.

The numbers will usually indicate what fire station the unit is from. An "5" before the station number indicates that the station has two of that type of unit. For example, station 10 has two basic ambulance units, one "A - 10" and the other "A- 510".